The Flora of Kutch

Kutch has lots of varieties of Acacia trees. Some of Acacia trees are Acacia Senegal, Acacia Leucophloea, and Acacia Nilotica etc. The Mesquite is a leguminous plant and it grows in the arid regions. The wild exotic plants were brought from South America and they were grown to stop the spread of the deserts and the soil-errosion. These plants are also called ‘Gando Bawal' (Prosopis Juliflora).Some of these plants are also used as cattle-feed. The coastal area has some halophytes specis named Suaeda, Sporobolus and Urochondra etc. Mangroves like Avicinnia Marina, Avicinnia Officianalis and Rhizophera Mucronata are found in the muddy creek areas.

The best fodder providing tree named ‘Koo-Babul' is also grown in Kutch. It has many better nutritional values. Its pods contain a big amount of protein. Many other kinds of fodder are grown separately for camels, buffaloes, cows, sheep and goats.

Planting a variety of trees, shrubs, creepers and bushes is now possible in Kutch to provide the requirements of both human-beings and animals.

DISTRIBUTION

The Flora of Kutch is simply distributed in the following zones: The Coastal zone, The Central Hilly and Dry Deciduous zone, The Banni zone and Grass.

The Coastal zone:

Khajur or Kharek	Phoenix Sylvestris
Dariyai Khip	Leptadenia Sparitium (wild)
Saru	Cassuarina Equisetifolia
Dariyai Kans	Halopyrum Mucronatum
Neem or Limdo	Melia Azadirachta
Thor	Euphorbia Tirucalli (wild)
Lano or Luna	Sueda Maritima (wild)
Aval	Cassia Auriculata (wild)
Bor or Ber	Zyzyphus Jujuba (wild)
Coconut	Cocos Nucifera

The Central Hilly and Dry Deciduous zone:

Gando Bawal	Prosopis Juliflora
Desi Bawal	Acacia Nilotica
Khijdo or Kando	Prosopis Cineraria
Khakhro	Butea Frondosa
Jar or Pilu	Salvadora Persica
Thor	Euphorbia Tirucallis
Neem or Limdo	Melia Azadirachta
Aval	Cassia Auriculata
Ambli or Imli	Tamarindus Indica
Aritha	Sapindus Emarainatus
Jambu or Jamun	Eugenia Jambolana
Gugal	Balesmodendron Mukul
Nagphunny	Cactus Indicus
Piplo or Pipal	Ficus Religiosa
Lai	Tamarix Gallica
Vad	Ficus Bengalenesis
Bor or Ber	Zyzyphus Jujuba (wild)

The Banni zone

Gando Bawal	Prosopis Juliflora
Desi Bawal	Acacia Nilotica
Kerdo or Keri	Capparis
Pilu	Salvadora
Lai	Tamarix

Grass

In the Kutchi local language, many varieties of grass called ‘Gha' and it grows in Banni. There are almost 28 varieties of grass in Banni. Some of the varieties of grass are Valo, Baru, Phulio, Khari, Adhau, Kanj, Vans etc.

The Fauna of Kutch

The vast land of Kutch has long seashore and vast deserts which provide Kutch a extraordinary variety of wild life attracting a large number of avifauna. Some important and special wild lives found in Kutch are given below:

MAMMALS

Chinkara (Gazella Gazella) (local name Chinkara) and the wild asses (Equus Onager Indicus) were found near the little rann of Kutch.

Neelgai or Blue Bull (Bojh), Wild Boar or Jungli Budhar (Sus Scrofa), Indian Wolf (Canis Lepus), Jackal or Shiyad (Canis Auresug), striped Hyena or Jharak (Hyena Hyonna), Desert Hare or Sasla (Lepus Nigricollis Outchensis), Indian Fox or Lonkadi (Vulpe Bengalenisis), Mongoose or Nolia (Herpestus Smithi), besides some jungli cats, desert cats, Pangolin, Indian Porcupine and long eared hedgehod are also found in Kutch.

The Indian Hare (Lepus Nigricollis) is commonly found in the open fields. The Caracal is the rarest animal found in Kutch.

REPTILES

Many kinds of reptiles including snakes are also available in Kutch.Some of these reptiles are commonluy found like Crocodile or Mugger, Monitor Lizard or Patla Gho, Kutch Rock Gecho (Garodi), Desert Monitor Lizard, spiny-tailed lizard or Sanda (Uromastyx Hardwicki), flat-tailed lizard or Khann, Starred Tortoise and fresh water turtle (Lissemus Puctata) etc.

SNAKES

As usual, there are two kinds of snakes found in Kutch: Poisonous and Non-Poisonous.

Black Krait, Black Cobra (Najatripudians), Russels Viper (Vipera Russeli), Saw Scaled Viper (Echlis Carinatus), Sea Snake (Hydrophis Spiralis) etc. are poisonous snakes, while Python ( Python Molurus), Sand Boa (Eryx Conicus), Rat Snake (Piyas Mucosus), Royal Snake (Zamenis Diadema) etc. are non-poisonous snakes.

AMPHIBIANS

Many species of Frogs and Toads are also seen in Kutch.

PISCES

Kutch has many varieties of fishes. They are found in the Gulf of Kutch, in creeks, in the backwaters of the sea and also in the fresh water.